Sir Colin Moffat Campbell; born August 4 1925, died December 1, 1997
THE sun never set on the British Empire as far as Sir Colin Campbell was concerned. In former colonies across the world the flags may have been lowered, that part of the globe shaded a new colour, but the eighth baronet of Aberuchill and Kilbryde always carried a whiff of the elegance and privilege of plantation life.
A larger than life figure, he listed the Royal Calcutta Turf, Tollygunge, and the Nairobi among his favourite clubs. With his castle in Perthshire, a glittering career in the Scots Guards, and a chairmanship of one of the world's largest tea producers Sir Colin was once accused of being the archetypal well-fed capitalist.
Large he certainly was in
personality as well as stature, being dubbed Sir Cumference by irreverent colleagues in Kenya, but his ability as one of Scotland's heavy hitters was never in doubt. The Military Cross he was awarded in 1945 was for his personal bravery and in later life he never shirked from a challenge, taking on, among other bodies, the That-cher Government when he thought it necessary.
During the 1980s the conditions of workers on tea plantations in Bangladesh, owned by James Finlay plc ,the company he chaired, came under intense scrutiny. Said to be a national scandal, employees earned 35p a day, enough to buy two bags of company-subsidised rice. Diseases, including leprosy
and hookworm, was said to be endemic and a Granada World in Action documentary on the plantations described conditions as among the worst in
the world.
Throughout this period Sir Colin had to contend with demonstrations outside every AGM held by his Glasgow-based company and concerted guerrilla action inside from protesters with shares. Yet he conducted his defence of the company with bravado and, many of his supporters said, with panache.
Reacting to the World in Action report in 1983 from his Dunblane castle he said: ''The word that comes to mind is codswallop. I am not treating this as a very high priority. It
is a gadfly with which I have
to live.''
Sir Colin claimed that his workers' wages were among the higher levels of those paid to plantation employees in Bang-ladesh and that the medical facilities available to them were of a superior level.
His penchant for plain talking didn't stop at his employees.
In 1983 he told the CBI con-
ference at Eastbourne that it was time for Britain's bosses to stop rewarding themselves and take a zero pay rise or even a cut in wages. In 1986 the Conservative Government found he put his money where his mouth was by slashing his company's annual donation to party funds over a disagreement on shipping policy.
James Finlay's range of interests spread far beyond tea, into world shipping and oil production but it was in the tea industry that Sir Colin first cut his teeth. Educated at Stowe he went to Calcutta to work for James Finlay & Co immediat-ely after leaving the Scots Guards. After 10 years on the Indian sub-continent he moved to Nairobi where he rose to become chairman of the Kenyan Tea Board. He was a member of the Scottish Council CBI and the Commonwealth Development Corporation from 1981 to 1989.
Away from business he listed cards, racing, and gardening as among his favourite pursuits. Sir Colin married in 1952
to Mary Anne Chichester Bain and leaves two sons, James
and John.
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